Letting Go- Chapter 1
by KansasRoad
Summary: Short story stand alone, but part of an ongoing storyline. Charlie Bradbury gets caught up in a hunt that takes her down a path she never expected. Sam and Dean Winchester, along with a trusted friend and colleague, Jody Mills try to unravel the mystery before it's too late. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

_Hope you all enjoy, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!_

Chapter 1

1038pm

The moon was full and bright. She stood alone at the foot of the shoreline to the small lake. She was still. Her hair was down and long and red. There was a gentle breeze that played through the strands of her hair making the tips dance lightly in the night air. Everything around her had the glow of the moon. The branches, the grass, the leaves, the water, the clouds, her skin, her eyes.. She felt frozen in place as she looked out over the lake to where she last saw him: the water undisturbed and still.

She was quiet as her eyes searched desperately for any signs. But there was nothing and her heart felt true anguish. She closed her eyes and waited.

She did not hear her name being shouted out into the darkness. She did not hear the crunch of the leaves beneath heavy feet in the distance. She was aware of nothing but the breeze that caressed her skin and the sound of the water lapping gently against the rocky shore.

He was breathing heavily. "Charlie?" Sam slowed down dramatically as he neared her.

She smiled a small sad smile but remained silent. Dean came up behind his brother with his gun in hand, and out of breath himself. He gave a careful once over of their surroundings before he settled his eyes onto Charlie as he came up behind her. Dean glanced to Sam for some reassurance he suddenly felt he needed but stopped short when he saw the expression on his brother's face.

"Dean.. " Sam said as he took a cautious step towards Charlie.

Dean followed his brother's gaze as he came around them and face to face with her. She was wearing an all white almost sheer sleeveless type of nightgown and it glowed eerily in the blue light of the moon. That's when he noticed something on the fabric of her gown over her stomach. It was dark and odd shaped and it seemed to glisten slightly. Dean took a step closer to get a better look. It was then that he finally noticed something else: something dripping from her fingertips.

".. god.. Dean responded underbreath suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "What the hell happened here..?"

Sam dropped his weapons bag and immediately reached out and grasped her hands turning them palm side up exposing several deep cuts on her wrists. He gently let go of her hands and pulled flat the pleats of her gown where the oddly shaped stain was. It was wet and reddish in the darkened night. Blood. His heart was ready to leap into his throat. He found several tears in the fabric. Like maybe a knife made them. But he knew better. There was no maybe.

"Dean.. she's-she's hurt pretty bad." Dean detected a subtle shake in Sam's voice. "It looks bad." Sam took a step back, bent down on one knee, and zipped open his bag and began rummaging through it with a palatable sense of urgency.

Dean tucked his gun into the waistband of his jeans and moved closer to Charlie. He looked into her eyes and found them to have a glimpse of recognition for him for only a moment and then it was. just. gone.

"Charlie?" Dean found himself whispering. But her eyes seemed locked on something in the distance behind him. He followed her gaze back out onto the water. It had an odd iridescent glow from the light of the night moon. Otherwise it was quiet and calm and there was nothing else to see. He looked back to her trying to shove down the panic that he was finding himself experiencing. Everything that he was seeing was wrong. Just all so wrong. He cupped her cheeks in his shaky hands. She was so cold to the touch. It alarmed him even more. He immediately took off his jacket and wrapped it around Charlie's shoulders in an effort to get her warm.

"Charlie? Hey, look at me." Dean demanded. His bottom lip shook slightly. The fear and uncertainty that enveloped him was taking hold. "Charlie.. " He searched her eyes again, looking for anything.. anything that would explain what had happened. But there was nothing. She remained motionless and quiet with not a word and barely a breath passing her lips.

"Dean we gotta get her to a hospital." Sam said as pulled some rags from the bag and quickly tied them around each of her wrists as tourniquets.

"I know." Dean said. "I know."

The temperature had noticeable gotten cooler during the few minutes they had been there.

Sam too, removed his jacket as Dean carefully lifted her up in his arms. Sam wrapped his jacket around her legs tucking the edges between her and Dean's arms. He then hoisted the bag over his shoulder before locking eyes with Dean. Neither of them knew what to say. Something bad had happened and they were clueless as to what. And now someone they cared about deeply could die.

They made their way back the Impala which was about a ten minute walk. Dean trailed behind Sam who carefully navigated their footing in the dark with only his flashlight leading the way. It was slow going and arduous but with Charlie in such a precarious condition they had no choice. Last thing Dean wanted was to trip and fall or jostle her too much.

"Jody." Dean said out of the blue.

Sam responded knowing what Dean was getting at. They were within Sioux Falls and they needed help with this one.

"I'll have her meet us at the hospital." Sam quickly got on his cell and ended up leaving a message.

"Couldn't get ahold of her?" Dean asked as Sam got off the phone.

"No, but it's Jody. She'll be there. How's Charlie doing?" Sam looked over to Charlie worriedly.

"Still alive." Dean looked down to Charlie. "I don't know how, but.. " Dean paused. She was looking worse. "We better hurry though." Dean said. He felt like he was losing her and it scared the shit out of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Letting Go

Chapter 2

1:45 am

Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The boys both sat quietly in a small waiting room down a hallway off of the emergency room. They had brought Charlie in almost two hours ago and neither of them had heard anything on her condition since.

"Hey guys." Sam looked up to find Jody standing beside him. He stood up slowly and gave her a heartfelt hug. Dean followed suit. Jody noticed right away the blood on both their hands and all over Dean's shirt.

"Is that... blood?" She asked suddenly very concerned.

Dean peered down. He hadn't noticed the blood stains until that moment. "Ah, not ours. Charlie's." Dean said soberly.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. How is she doing?" Jody asked anxiously looking from one brother to the next.

"We don't know yet. They took her in for emergency surgery." Dean answered.

"Guys what happened?' Jody asked.

"Charlie left a message saying she needed help." Sam answered.

"Was she hunting?" Jody asked. The brothers looked at eachother with uncertainty.

"We're not sure." Dean responded. "The message she left was pretty scarce with the details. It sounded like she got cut off. We ended up tracking her cell phone in order to find her."

Jody looked at them questioningly.

"We found her Vermilion Lake." Sam answered.

Jody listened as Sam went on to describe the events leading up to how they found her and the state she was in when they did. She paid careful attention for any details that could set them on the right path as to what happened. She also studied Sam's face as he spoke. She glanced at Dean's too. They both looked haggard from the emotional drain she could so clearly see they were experiencing. Dean went and sat back down while they continued talking. He was feeling the exhaustion baring down on him as the events of the night began to sink in deeper. After a few minutes Jody walked away and Sam headed over to him.

"She's gonna check in and see how Charlie's doing. Get us some answers." Sam informed him.

Dean nodded and then leaned back into his chair. He rubbed his forehead in a vain attempt to try and relieve the stress that had been building since Charlie left her message.

"All I can say is it better be good news." Dean took a deep breath and then exhaled loudly. He shook his head and looked back up to Sam, "Or so help me Sammy... "


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Avera McKennan hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

2:11am

Dean locked eyes on Jody returning with someone who looked like a doctor trailing behind her.

"This is Sam and Dean." She introduced the doctor to them. "This is Dr. Harrison. He was on call when you brought your sister in."

Sam and Dean didn't react when referred to as Charlie's brothers. Nice move, Dean thought. It was nice to know that they could depend on her.

"Well, how is she?" Dean blurted out.

"Your sister sustained multiple stab wounds to the abdomen along with deep cuts on her wrists. As a result there was a considerable amount of blood loss."

The doctor shook his head. "By all accounts I'm surprised she's even alive. But with emergency surgery we were able to repair some of the damage and stop the internal bleeding. She's currently in ICU." The doctor looked to Jody. "These stab wounds appear to be self inflicted." All three of them looked at the doctor as if he had suddenly sprouted an extra head.

"No. No, that's not what this is." Dean adamently defended. "She would never.. "

Jody placed her hand on Dean's shoulder interrupting him. "Dean.. " She warned. "The doctor here is only trying to do his job." Jody looked back to the doctor with a small obligatory smile. "We will consider the possibility in our investigation, thank you."

The doctor nodded.

"Can we see her?" Dean asked anxiously.

The doctor looked to Jody and then back to the Winchesters as he debated the question.

"Five minutes tops. Her current condition is precarious at best. And I warn you, she has been given a sedative to sleep so she won't be doing much talking. These next 24 hours will be telling. She needs all the rest she can get meanwhile." The doctor took a step back and then motioned for them to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Avera McKennan hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

2:31am

Sam and Dean quietly stepped out of Charlie's hospital room and into the hallway with Jody. A sobering silence enveloped each of them for a long moment. Jody looked to Sam and then to Dean. They were visibly upset. She was too. She glanced back to Charlie through the hospital doorway looking forlorn and quiet. She felt angry seeing the poor girl in such a state. There was something about this case seemed all too familiar.

"You said you found her in a white nightgown?" Jody looked ready to get down to work.

"Yeah. She wasn't even wearing any shoes." Dean remembered.

Jody looked a little preoccupied.

"What is it?" Sam asked right away.

"There's something about this case. Can't quite put my finger on it though." She sighed. "You know, I'm gonna go back to the station and see what I can dig up. I'm also going to send a team out to the site where you found Charlie. See what they can find."

"And if it looks like it's Supernatural?" Dean asked.

"I guess it'll be a cold case in our books. Either way, maybe there's something the CSI team can turn up that'll help us." Jody responded.

"I'll go with you." Sam volunteered. He then turned to Dean. "You?" He asked his brother.

"I'm gonna stay here and keep an eye on her. If she wakes up maybe she can tell us what the hell happened." Dean's voice sounded strained. "If you find anything... holler."

Sam nodded as he patted his brother on the shoulder with a reassuring squeeze before he left with Jody.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"A Boy"

Avera McKennan Hospital& University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Next day. 3:57pm.

Dean stood in the doorway of Charlie's hospital room. The nurse had let him know Charlie was awake and that he could go see her. His eyes swept over Charlie from head to toe as he approached her. She looked ghastly pale and vulnerable lying in that big hosptial bed. It drew a bubble of anger seeing her in this condition. He wanted nothing more to find out what happened and who or what was responsible. He wanted to make someone pay for hurting her. He paused, grabbed a nearby chair, dragged it the rest of the way to her bedside and sat down beside her. She had an IV strapped to one of her arms and two tubes inserted into her nose. There was also a moniter to her left carrying a steady beeping sound which enveloped the otherwise quiet room.

"Hi." Dean said. He watched her carefully. She looked disoriented and confused as her eyes moved around the room questioningly. "You're in a hospital." Dean answered her unasked question.

"Hospital." Charlie repeated the word slowly as if she was trying to decipher its meaning. "Why?" Her voice sounded strained.

Dean looked puzzled. "You don't remember?" She shook her head no. "You left a message asking for help but it sounded like you got cut off before you could tell us where you were. We ended up tracking your cell phone to your car in the woods not far from here. That's where we found you."

Charlie looked down to her bandaged wrists.

"Do you remember being in the woods or how you got there?" Dean asked. She shook her head slowly. "Do you remember leaving the message?" He followed up. She nodded. "We're you hunting?" Dean asked. She nodded again but otherwise remained silent. "Charlie what were you hunting?" He asked not knowing what to anticipate.

Charlie turned her gaze to him. It was the first time she had made eye contact with him since he had entered the room. Dean was taken back by the sudden intensity in them. "A woman." She said softly.

"A woman?" Dean repeated.

Charlie suddenly looked very saddened. Dean was struck by it. "There was a child." Charlie whispered.

Dean found her searching in his eyes for something. It felt like she was peering into his soul it felt so intimate. It made him uncomfortable. So much so he impulsively moved back a bit from her.

"A boy.." Her eyes suddenly swelled with tears as she spoke. "A beautiful boy.. " She looked away. The expression Dean caught on her face at that moment was more than sadness; it was devastation. "He.. he.." Charlie stuttered. She didn't bother to wipe the tears that now fell freely down her cheeks. "He went away." A look of panic suddenly shadowed her face. She looked back up to Dean and grabbed the sleeves on his shirt. "When.. when will I see him again? How long I've waited to see him again! When?" She practically shouted as she sat up in her bed aggressively pulling Dean towards her. It was so out of character. It scared him.

Dean instinctively placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to help calm her down.

"Charlie you need to calm down, ok? Or your gonna tear your stitches." She didn't seem to hear him or even care. Instead, she pulled on his sleeves with even more force. "Charlie, hey, hey, hey look at me, look at me." He did his best to remain calm but she only shook her head in despair. "Charlie HEY..!" Dean's voice went heavy and low. That got her attention. Their eyes locked again.

She was breathing heavily now, her face wet with perspiration and tears and her cheeks flushed. Dean felt his heart racing. "I need you to take a deep breath with me, ok? Ok? Deep breathe.." Dean took a deep breathe motioning her to do the same and then he exhaled. They did it several times. And it seemed to be working. Her grip on his shirt loosened up and she finally let go. She leaned back into the bed looking nothing but worried and exhausted. Dean slowly straightened himself up, trying to gather his thoughts and process what had just happened. What he had just witnessed was bizarre behavior for Charlie and it warrented a great deal of concern.

"Can I sleep?" She asked him anxiously. "I'm so tired, I just want to sleep." Dean could only stare back at her lost as to what it all meant.

"It's the painkillers. There's a strong sedative in it." A older looking nurse stood at the doorway catching only the tail end of their conversation. She paused a moment before entering the room. She headed straight for Charlie and checked her vitals. She then moved on to checking the monitor. "Helps her sleep. Lord knows this poor child needs it." The nurse commented. "She'll be in and out all day like this." The nurse saw the traumatized look on Dean's face and commented. "Don't worry honey, with proper rest and recovery she'll be fine." The nurse said in a comforting tone.

Dean's eyes slowly drifted up to the nurse standing over Charlie for a moment before returning his attention back to Charlie who had already fallen asleep. Whatever had happened to her she seemed to have taken the brunt of it. It was messing with her in more ways then just physical injuries. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. Dean walked out of the hospital room and into the hallway and immediately phoned Sam.

"Hey Dean. How's Charlie doing?" Sam asked earnestly.

Dean hesitated unsure of what to tell his brother. "I.. uh.. I think we have a bigger problem.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Jessica"

Avera McKennan Hospital& University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

4:18pm

"Charlie woke up for a few minutes." Dean said

"That's great. Was she able to tell you what happened?" Sam asked anxiously.

Dean hesitated for a long moment before clearing his throat. "Not.. exactly."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked perplexed by the tone in Dean's voice.

Dean let out a deep breath before he continued. "She was hunting. Mentioned a woman and a child. And then it got wierd."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked

"When she mentioned the kid she looked absolutely grief stricken Sammy. Devastated. She suddenly started panicking and got aggressive saying this kid went away and asking when would she see him again. She was crying Sam. At the drop a dime she was full on crying."

Sam was quiet on the other end. He didn't know what to make of what Dean had just described to him. He knew one thing for sure, it scared him as much as it scared Dean.

"Dean.. " Sam said.

"She's sleeping now." Dean cut in. He could hear the uncertainty in his brother's voice and it made everything even less comforting. "She'll be out of it for awhile and not much help for the time being. Please tell me you guys found something."

"Actually yeah. Let me put you on speakerphone." Sam said.

"Hey Dean." Jody said over the phone. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm holding up." Dean said unconvincingly. "Did you find anything?" He asked her hopefully.

"I knew this sounded familiar. It's from a case dating back to 2003. There was a woman named Jessica Thompson. She was found dead in her home with stab wounds to her abdomen and slashes to her wrists. And get this. She was wearing a white sleeveless dress. All of it just like the state you found Charlie in."

Dean was quiet for a moment; the wheels in his head spinning. "She didn't happen to have a kid, did she?" Dean asked hesitantly

"Oddly enough, yeah. But he died 2 months prior in a drowning during a camping trip. He was only 8." Jody said sadly. So close to her own son's age, she thought. It saddened her more than she let on.

"Let me guess. He drowned at the very lake where we found Charlie." Dean said.

"Yup. It was before my time as a cop. And it was big news. And even bigger when Jessica was found dead a month later."

"Was it murder?" Sam asked.

"The official report was filed as 'self inflicted wounds'. Police found a note at the scene saying how she wanted to see her son again." Jody's voice was somber. "It's in the books as a suicide."

"So.. what? Charlie was hunting a ghost? This woman?" Dean surmised over the phone.

Jody handed Sam a photograph of Jessica. Sam looked back at Jody with a surprised look on his face as soon as he saw the photograph. "Dean I'm sending you a photo of Jessica now." Sam said.

Dean saw a text message notification on his phone and tapped on it. A photograph appeared. His face fell a little. The photograph of Jessica seemed to be a spitting image of Charlie right down to the long red hair. "Your kidding." Dean scoffed. "This just gets better and better."

"Yeah the resemblance is uncanny." Sam said. "So we find Charlie in a white dress with the same wounds as this Jessica woman and we also found Charlie .. " Dean said.

"... at the very lake where this woman's son died." Sam finished off Dean's train of thought. "Sounds like a ghost possession. Ghost sees a connection with her appearance and then hijacks Charlie and brings her to the lake. But then what?" Sam continued.

Jody declared. "She killed herself so she could be with her son in death." Jody took the photograph back from Sam and looked at it for a moment before placing it carefully back into the file. "Maybe dying wasn't enough to make it happen. Maybe she had to be at the lake. And she needed Charlie to do it." Jody's tone was soft. This case was pulling at her heart strings in a way she hadn't expected when she first met up with Sam and Dean at the hospital.

"So we have to find out if she's possessed. And if she is..?" Dean asked as he glanced back at Charlie through the hospital doorway.

"Then we might have to give the ghost what it wants, in this case." Sam stated.

"What? No, how 'bout we force the ghost out and gank it." Dean said flatly.

"It might not be that easy Dean." Sam retorted.

Dean turned away from Charlie's room and walked further down the hall a bit for more privacy from the other nurses.

"This ghost is grieving her child in death. We have to be careful how we go about this." Sam explained over the phone. "If we go in hot it could cause irreparable harm to Charlie. I mean she's already laid up in a hospital with serious injuries. And judging from what you just told us about Charlie's behavior, she's manifesting Jessica's physical and mental trauma..."

Dean listened intently to his brothers voice over his phone, when the lights suddenly began flickering overhead. The hair on the back of his neck and arms suddenly stood on end as he warily took in his surroundings. Within moments he heard what sounded like a startled scream coming from down the hallway. He spun around just in time to see a nurse running out of Charlie's room screaming. Dean wasted no time and charged down the hall careening into Charlie's room. He certainly wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Charlie was no longer laying in bed or in bed at all for that matter. She was standing. Her face stark white and shadowed with look of sheer desperation. Before Dean could adequately process what was happening, he found himself suddenly midair and flying. He hit the back wall hard. The impact knocked his cell phone out of his hand as he drop landed onto the hospital room floor with heavy thud. From that point everything went blurry and then dark for Dean. The same nurse who ran out before ran back into the hospital room, quickly appraised the scene, and without hesitation ran back out of the room again, screaming.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Avera McKennan Hospital& University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Charlie's hospital room

5:26pm

"How's your head?" Sam asked Dean as a nurse finished checking him out. "You were out for a bit."

"Like it got stomped on by a herd of elephants." Dean responded irritated. "She sure as hell packed a punch."

"So I guess this answers our question if Charlie was being possessed." Sam retorted.

"I mean the sheer power behind it.. " Dean shook his head.

"She's a mother that wants to be with her son. There's a power behind that and not much can get in the way." Jody said sympathetically.

Dean lightly touched the growing goose egg forming on the back of his head. He grimaced in pain. "Yeah, well right now this ghost has our Charlie. And there's not much in the way that's going to stop me from getting her back." Dean gave Jody a hardened look before his expression softened when he realized how easy it was for Jody to sympathize with Jessica and the loss of a child. Losing a child wasn't an easy thing for anyone. Devastating might be a better word, but he knew even that was a description that fell incredibly short. Jody gave a tight smile. She knew Dean's heart was in the right place.

"Did you get anything?" Dean asked her gently.

"Surveillance shows Charlie walking right out the front entrance." Jody answered.

"No one stopped her?" Sam asked.

"If they had I doubt they would have done much better than Dean here." Jody responded.

Dean rolled his eyes. She wasn't wrong. "We gotta find her before it's too late." Dean said as he got up from his chair, thanked the nurse helping him and headed out of the hospital room. Jody and Sam followed. "My guess is that when we found Charlie we interrupted something." Dean surmised. "That ghost has been sitting in Charlie this whole time just waiting to finish what it started and it still needs Charlie to do it."

"So back to the scene of the crime so to speak." Jody said anxiously.

"That's where Charlie's headed. And that's where we need to be." Dean said. It was now or never and they all knew it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Blackbird"

Vermilion Lake, South Dakota

6:20pm

Almost 20 minutes later two vehicles pulled into an old dusty parking lot with nothing but gravel and potholes from years of complete neglect. A glint of the sun reflected off of the black hood of a black 67' Chevy Impala as it turned into the parking lot. An old truck followed behind with the Sioux Falls Police Department logo branded across its side. The sun was going down fast leaving streaks of horizontal bright light in the darkening sky.

Sam opened his door first with Dean following suit. They both headed straight for the trunk. Dean opened it and Sam reached in and yanked out an old green seemingly worn out army duffle bag filled with all the hunting paraphernalia they needed for hunts. He tossed it to the ground where Dean quickly unzipped it and started rummaging through the bag until he pulled out a couple of iron rods. He handed one to Jody and the other to Sam and then grabbed one for himself.

"Since when do we have 3 rods?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "Lucky we do.." Dean replied.

He then handed a couple of specialized salt containers tossing one to Sam and then one to Jody and shoving a third into his coat. He tossed the bag back into the trunk and slammed the trunk shut after it. Twilight was already coming on and visibility was only going to become more difficult for the trio.

Dean pointed to Jody, "Ok, we're gonna split up. You take the north side. Sam you go east and I'll take west."

They each took out their flashlights stashed in their pockets, readying themselves for the ensuing darkness, and then separated going their own ways, with hearts pounding and fingers crossed they'd find Charlie in time.

It was uncomfortably darker now and getting rather cold. Cloud cover enveloped most of the sky keeping the light of the brightening moon hidden. Dean had his gun out and was in complete stealth mode and disappeared into the dark.

"Come on Charlie, where are you... " He said underbreath; his eyes sweeping back and forth over his surroundings.

Dean had been searching for about twenty minutes at that point and nothing. His frustration and impatience had grown by leaps and bounds with every step he had taken. The idea of Charlie out here alone killed him. ' _Did she know what was going on? Or was the ghost suppressing her consciousness? Was she afraid? Was she ok?'_ And most importantly, would they find her in time?'

He gritted his teeth at all the chaotic thoughts swirling in his head. The idea of losing her again after the whole Styne crap and everything that had followed 7 months ago had left an indelible mark on her naturally optimistic outlook on life in general. Only now, had she started to resemble the Charlie he had missed so dearly. It had been a long hard winding road for her to navigate, but she had made it through. Barely. At that moment thinking about her and her possible current state of mind left him wondering what repercussions would there be in the aftermath this time? And how it would add to everything else that she had been managing and coping with. He didn't like the answers he was coming up with. Dean shook the thought off and refocused in the task at hand. Finding Charlie.

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Sam walked slowly through the brush, ducking beneath low lying branches and stepping over dead tree trunks seemingly every minute. He didn't seemed to notice though. His thoughts were squarely on Charlie. He was deeply worried for her. He knew what it was like to be possessed by a ghost. The degree of the psychic imprint they left behind depended on the connection it had to its host. And with Charlie, that connection was partly shared through their almost identical appearance and past grief due to tragic loss.

He wondered how much Charlie was aware of what was happening. He wondered how much she had been suffering. She had made so much progress in the last year. She was finally starting to find a place where she could cope successfully with all that had happened. But now what was she going to be facing? The mere thought was upsetting so he refocused his full attention to finding her. Sam stopped suddenly seeing something up ahead. It was a light. And it was moving.

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Jody walked with purpose. She knew these woods pretty well having spent a great deal of her childhood swimming in the lake and just shooting the shit with friends and family during her adolescence. 'Family', she thought. The lake represented good memories for her but for people like Jessica and her son it represented nothing but tragedy and loss. The face of Jody's son suddenly popped into her head. Such a sweet boy he was. He was kind and caring so full of life; all of it cut short so senselessly.

Jody stopped in her tracks concentrating on shoving the image back down when she felt tears forming. She waited until she felt better able to control the emotions the situation was drudging up for her before she continued on her path. She couldn't afford the emotions distracting her for the time being. It was a liability. She had to stay sharp. She did not want Charlie to become another tragedy.

Jody stopped mid stride when something caught her eye to her left. She turned and noticed a small light in the distance. She headed towards it. The light seemed to be moving away from her though. So she picked up her pace and tried to keep it within view. The terrain beneath her feet changed from dirt, grass, and broken branches to small pebbles and sand. Jody caught the reflection of the light on the water now. It gave off quite an eeriely blue glow for something so small. It suddenly stopped moving and instead just hovered near the shoreline of the lake.

00000000000000000000000000000000

Dean hurried his pace a bit scanning his surroundings as he went. He quickly walked past a row of trees and glimpsed something hovering over the lake. He headed towards it. He couldn't tell what he was seeing until he got closer. It was a pin prick of light but it seemed to be stationary as he continued to make his way towards it. The closer he got though the brighter it seemed to glow. Then without warning it shone brighter and started moving towards the shoreline illuminating everything around it.

He followed in the direction it headed and then stopped short when it stopped short. He could see a silhouette of a figure standing directly in its path. His adrenaline now pumping wildly when he realized it was Charlie. He bolted from a dead start and raced towards her. When he glimpsed Charlie starting to move towards the water, Dean ran faster.

Jody peered towards the light. It seemed to be waiting for something. Her eyes drifted beyond the light and saw a figure standing on the shoreline. It was Charlie. She was walking towards the water. Jody started running.

Sam followed the light's path towards the shoreline when he noticed a dark figure standing alone by the water. Then the light illuminated her body making her look like she was glowing. He panicked when he realized it was Charlie and she was moving towards the water. He picked up speed and raced towards her before she became immersed into the dark abyss of the lake.

Jody ran. Dean ran. Sam ran. All racing against the clock.

Charlie continued walking towards the lake until her toes were dipping into the waters edge. Then she took another step and then another until she was thigh deep.

"NO!" Dean yelled from a close distance as he jumped over a fallen log.

"Charlie STOP!" Sam yelled not far off from her as he ducked under another low lying branch. But she kept moving into the water. Waist deep. Then she was chest deep. Shoulder deep.

"Charlie, honey stop!"Jody yelled as she pushed herself to the limits running around the edge of the shoreline trying to reach her before it was too late.

Charlie though, continued until she was completely immersed into the water disappearing from view. Jody reached that section of the shoreline first. She tossed her rod, threw off her jacket and gun holster and shoes and anything else that would weigh her down and ran into the water at full throttle.

Dean reached the shoreline next. He too did the same and then ran into the water. Jody, when deep enough, dove into the water where she last saw Charlie. Dean, who was right behind her did the same.

Sam came last. He followed suit with his jacket and gun and shoes and ran into the water. The light that had been hovering suddenly dove directly into the water right in front of him.

"... oh no.., " Sam gasped. Before he could dive in himself there was a flash of light that seemed to burst through the water lighting it up several feet in every direction. That's when Jody and Dean popped up.

"I see her!" Jody yelled at them. Dean swam over to Jody and they both dove back down together. Sam waited literally counting the seconds. Five seconds went by then ten seconds and then.. they both burst back up through the dark water.

"Dean?" Jody yelled at him. Dean shook his head and they both took another deep breath and sunk back down beneath the black water.

Sam headed into water with the intention of diving in but before he got far both Dean and Jody popped back up moments later dragging Charlie behind them.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled for his brother. Sam waded further into the water to meet them but froze instantly when he caught a glimpse of Charlie's face in the moonlight.

Sam's brain immediately slowed everything down to half speed. Everything that he was seeing; Jody hanging onto Charlie's limp water drenched body for dear life and Dean, well his expression was lifeless as he dragged the brunt of Charlie's wieght through the water and onto the sand.

Sam locked eyes with Dean. They had the same undeniable thought. Charlie looked like she did that night at the Blackbird motel.

Dead.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Vermilion Lake

6:50pm

Sam immediately helped them carry Charlie's seemingly lifeless body out of the dark cold water and gently laid her down on the pebbled beach. She lay motionless on the ground; her soaked hospital gown clinging desperately to her body.

Dean, dripping wet himself, hunched over her immediately checking for a pulse on her neck. "Charlie?" He waited a few moments but couldn't find a pulse. He then checked her wrist. "Charlie..?" His voice trembled. "I can't.. I can't find a pulse." He stuttered.

"Dean, move!" Jody commanded.

"Dean.. " Sam gently tugged on Dean's jacket motioning him to move away from Charlie.

Jody dropped to her knees and hunched over her. She tilted the young woman's chin upward and put her ear to her mouth listening carefully. She felt nothing. She watched for Charlie's chest to rise and fall. Nothing. Jody pulled a few strands of wet hair away from Charlie's mouth and put her lips over them and immediately began CPR.

Sam and Dean watched in horrified silence as Jody began to perform C.P.R. She blew in two breaths of air into Charlie's mouth and then counted thirty chest compressions. She repeated this procedure systematically checking for breathing each time. This went on for a few agonizing minutes.

"Come on, come on, come on.." Dean chanted under breath. After a few more minutes, Charlie still hadn't responded to the CPR and Jody was starting to show fatigue. Sam motioned to Jody that he would take over. He positioned himself as she finished off her two breathes on Charlie, then quickly moved aside so Sam could take over.

Jody slowly stood up beside Dean. Her adrenaline was at an all time high. She grasped for Dean's shaky fingers with her own. They dared not look at eachother fearing that if they took their eyes off of Charlie for even one second she would die right there in front of them. So instead, they stood side by side chilled to the bone by the cold night air and stared helplessly at the silhouetted forms of Sam's body hunched over Charlie's.

After another long agonizing minute Charlie's body suddenly flinched and a gurgling sound came from her throat and water sputtered out from her mouth. Dean dropped to his knees to help Sam turn her to her side where she continued to cough and gasp for several more minutes.

"Thank god.. " Jody said more loudly than she had anticipated.

Sam supported Charlie's shaking body feeling a sense of instant relief. He couldn't believe it. He thought for sure they had lost her. He looked over to Dean who looked as relieved as he felt. Actually, Dean looked elated.

"Charlie?" Dean said his bottom lip quivering. "You ok?" After a few more coughs she slowly nodded. Jody wasted no time in gathering their jackets and layering them over Charlie. It was a bone deep cold out, and undoubtedly shock would be setting in soon if it hadn't already. When Jody was finished, Sam started to lift Charlie up.

"No! No. Stop!" Charlie urged. "Just wait... " She looked back to the lake behind her, eyes scanning the surface of the water, searching for something. Then she closed her eyes for a long moment as her body began to shake uncontrollably. "They're together." She whispered "Finally together." Charlie said with a mixture of joy and sadness.

"Sam.. " Dean said indicating they should leave now but Charlie pushed Sam away when he tried to pick her up again.

"No! No, I don't want to leave! Please!" Charlie pleaded. "He's my boy too!" She yelled. The three of them were taken back by the force of the comment. It was Jody who took the lead and knelt down beside her.

"Charlie.. Charlie.. "Jody said in a motherly tone as she pulled Charlie back towards her. "Hey, honey, look at me." Jody waited patiently until Charlie finally and reluctantly looked up to her. "Like you said, they're together now. You helped them find their way to eachother. But Charlie.. honey.. "

Charlie was already shaking her head.".. no.. no.." She didn't want to hear what Jody had to say.

Jody gently cupped Charlie's cheek in the palm of her hand, ".. they are gone. Your part here is done. It's ok to let go. You have to let go."

Charlie looked back to the lake with tears in her eyes. Her brain understood that. Her heart on the other hand ached desperately for something that had never been hers. But the devastation she now felt was as real for her as it had been for Jessica. She felt it in every bone in her body. She could not separate from it.

"Charlie.." She heard Dean say. She looked up to his pleading eyes. ".. please..let us help you now."

Charlie squeezed her eyes shut shaking her head. She was incredibly torn. She felt anguish. So much anguish. She wanted nothing more than to run back into that lake and feel that peace Jessica and her child now felt. She ached for it just like Jessica did. ".. no..I..I.." Charlie stuttered as she tried to get up.

"Charlie... " Jody said gently.

Charlie quieted for a moment when she caught sight of her clothes and suddenly became aware of the throbbing pain eminating from her stomach, that in turn made her aware of something else; the burning sensation in her wrists, and the blood that stained them. She suddenly was acutely aware of her own physical pain. She hadn't realized the damage her body had sustained. And it was in that very moment that she was reminded of who she was. Charlie, not Jessica.

Her voice shook heavily as she spoke. "I'll go." She nodded to Sam. He lifted her up carefully and then followed Jody back to the cars with Dean taking up the rear.

Charlie looked back to the dark waters behind her one more time before she buried her face into Sam's shirt. She felt completely lost and utterly grief stricken. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. It left her with the baring weight of undeniable exhaustion. In an attempt to shut everything out she closed her eyes. Unbenounced to her though, she succeeded in making everything go away for the time being and fell asleep within moments.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jody's house in Sioux Falls.

40 minutes later.

Sam carried a still sleeping Charlie through the front door to Jody's house. "Thank you so much for this Jody." Sam said.

"No problem. After what happened at the hospital it's probably best we lay low here for a while. An APB has already been put out for her and it would be tough to explain everything that happened at the hospital with Charlie going full on Linda Blair." Jody motioned for Sam to follow her upstairs. "We can put her in Claire's room. She's off with Alex roadtripping it to a Queen of the Stone Age concert. They won't be back for a couple days."Jody explained.

Sam gently lay a sleeping Charlie down on the bed as Jody started grabbing clothes from Claire's drawers. Dean silently stood at the bedroom doorway looking awkward and unsure of what to do.

"Sam, I need you to fill some hot water bags under the kitchen sink with warm water." Jody told Sam. "We can use them to help keep her warm."

"Got it." Sam said before he hurriedly left the room.

"Dean, I got a bunch of blankets in the hall closet. I need you to grab a few." Jody said. He nodded relieved at having something to do even if it was just grabbing blankets. He disappeared for a minute before returning with an armful. "Thank you." She told Dean as she motioned him to where she wanted them to go. He put them down.

"Ok, now scram." She told him. "I gotta get Charlie out of this wet hospital gown and into some dry clothes."

Dean didn't budge.

"Dean.. " Jody said. She reached out and squeezed his arm gently. "Hey..you ok?"

Dean shook his head. "The look on her face tonight." Dean recalled. "Calling that child hers. She wanted to go back into that lake and be with them. And didn't give a damn that she had to drown in order to do it." Dean shook his head. "If we hadn't been there..."

Jody was quiet for a moment. "Grief makes you do crazy things sometimes. You know that." She said somberly. "And I get it. When my son.. " She paused getting her voice under control, "When my son died, it was like all of me died with him. I wanted to be with him so badly that for a moment I didn't care if it meant me dying too."

Dean looked back to Jody with great sympathy. "I'm so sorry Jody."

Jody nodded. "Me too."

"Thank you for being there for her. You saved her life." Dean told her. "I can never thank you enough for that." Dean told her. She smiled.

"Shes gonna be ok." She said.

"Yeah. I hope so." Dean nodded solemnly. "I'll be downstairs."

AN HOUR LATER

Jody managed to get Charlie changed and nestled underneath a few blankets with a couple warm water bags nestled beneath them. She had also managed to rebandage Charlie's wrists and stomach injuries in the process. Charlie had slept through the whole thing, but as Jody pulled at a section of blanket gently straightening it out she was startled when Charlie's eyes suddenly flickered open.

"Heyyyy...honey "Jody said in a soft sweet voice as she sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

It took a bit before Charlie answered. "It hurts." Charlie said as she pushed her head back into her pillow. Charlie's eyes furrowed. "Got any painkillers?"

"I do in fact. I'll get you some." Jody said as she stood up. "Those stab wounds are gonna be a pain for awhile. You just have to take it easy for a few weeks." Jody grabbed a glass of water and a bottle of pills from the nightstand beside the bed. When she turned back to Charlie she caught an unsettling look plastered on her face.

"How did you do it?" Charlie asked out of the blue, her voice wavering slightly.

"How did I do what?" Jody sat back down on the bed beside her still holding the pills and glass of water in her hands.

"Not turn into Jessica when you lost your son." Charlie said flatly. Jody blinked a few times. She wasn't prepared for the question and it kind of floored her. Charlie was quiet for a long while as she stared back at Jody.

Jody opened and closed her mouth for a few moments before she realized no words were actually coming out.

"I remember pain." Charlie spoke. "The grief that she felt is the grief I felt. Grief I FEEL." Charlie emphasized. "Like it's my pain too. I feel like I lost a child too and I don't know how to deal with it." Charlie's eyes started to well with tears. She looked back up to Jody pleading for an answer.

Jody put down the glass and the pills on the little wooden night stand beside her. She then looked down at Charlie with great sadness in her heart. "Oh honey.."

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

An hour and a half later.

Jody walked into her family room where she found Dean absentmindedly staring out the family room window and Sam at the table peering down at his laptop.

They both looked up when she entered the room. Jody looked haggard and her eyes were slightly red and swollen.

"Jody?" Dean asked as he moved from the window and towards her with concern.

"It's ok. I'm ok." Jody said.

"You look like you've been crying." Dean observed.

"Yup." She plopped down into her armchair sinking into it with full abandon.

"That ghost really did a number on her. Charlie understands what happened and how but she can't separate those feelings as not her own. That girl up there is in full grief mode. As far as her heart is concerned, she just lost her child."

The room was deathly quiet for a few moments before Sam had gotten up from the table and slowly walked over.

"She wanted to know how I dealt with it." Jody shook her head sadly. "Why I didn't just off myself to be with him when he died. I did my best to answer, but... " She shook her head. "I hope I got through to her. I really do."

48 HOURS LATER.. ..

Men of letters Bunker, Kansas. Early morning.

The night air was a numbing cold. The sky, dark and void of stars. Voices could be heard in the distance but sounded broken in the wind. Death was close and it had been waiting.

Dean's heart raced when he saw her by the shoreline. He pushed his legs to move faster than they ever had. His blood coursed through his body at an impossible speed. He felt like a piece of him was dying when he saw her on the shoreline and he felt himself breaking into a million pieces when she disappeared beneath the soft lapping waves of the dark lake. He screamed until his throat turned hellishly sore and tears streaked his cheeks like scars.

"Charlie! Charlie! NO!" He yelled with everything he had in him.

Dean sat straight up in his bed sweating profusely, his arms and legs shaking and shivering. His panic was raw and unfettered. He looked around himself breathing heavily. He closed his eyes for a heart pounding moment. He breathed in and then breathed out trying to slow his heart rate down. "A nightmare." He whispered to himself. "A god damned nightmare." He threw his blanket off and swung his legs over the side of his bed.

It had been a long drive back from Jody's and they had all been exhausted when they finally made it back to the Bunker. Charlie had gone to lay down immediately and had been sleeping on and off ever since. That was almost 1day ago.

Panic suddenly enveloped him as his thoughts leapt over themselves. "Charlie." He said with a heavy breathe. He scrambled out of his bed and went to check on her immediately.

He walked past the library and stopped dead in his tracks. He backed up and found her sitting at one of the tables towards the back. She was leaning forward in her chair with an her arm carelessly draped on the table in front of her. Her other hand cradled a glass tumblr. And judging from the decanter inches from her, it wasn't apple juice that she was drinking. She wore a dark purple t-shirt, part of which was covered by her long red disheveled hair cascading down over her shoulders. She hadn't moved a muscle since he found her. She looked lost.

They had barely spoken to eachother since they received a call from her for help. Other than what Jody had told them he had no idea where her head was at. He grabbed a glass on his way to her. It was time to find out.

Dean pulled out a chair next to her and sat down. He lightly tapped his glass on the table and he got the reaction he had hoped for. She looked up and noticed his glass first, then her eyes found his.

"Hey." Dean said softly. He wiggled the glass in his hand and after a short pause Charlie grabbed the decantor and poured him a glass. "Thanks." Dean picked up his glass, took a sip, and made a face. "Never gets old." He said.

Charlie's eyes fell back down to her own glass with little reaction.

"Couldn't sleep?" Dean asked.

"I needed a break from all the sleep." Charlie air quoted "all"

"Yeah, well, emergency surgery, ghost possession and drowning in a lake can wipe a person right out." Dean said with a touch of humor.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Yes. It. Can." She raised her glass and took another drink.

"You know, I'm surprised you're up. Walking around probably isn't the best thing right now. Stitches are still healing." Dean said.

"I had to look at something other than those four walls." Charlie stated as she straightened herself up in her chair. She grimaced.

"Still hurt?" Dean asked.

"Pain killers might be wearing off a bit." Charlie replied. She looked back up at him. "What's your excuse for being up?" Charlie asked as she put down her glass.

"You." Dean answered without hesitation. There was a sudden awkward silence. Dean's response was unexpected and it simply left Charlie staring back at him.

She raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"I'm worried about you." Dean affirmed.

She smiled sadly. "I'm fine. Stitches are healing..slowly but healing. And soon I'll be able to video game it without these." She raised her bandaged wrists up towards him, but the expression on his face didn't change despite her own poor attempt at humor.

"What?" She asked when his expression didn't change.

"That's not what I meant." Dean looked at her intently which made her in turn look down to her glass, now empty. She picked up the decantor, and poured herself another drink. She took a breath and then exhaled. She continued to avoid Dean's eyes.

"On that beach.. after we pulled you from the water, you wanted to go back in.. ." Dean said apprehensively.

It was still very much vivid in her mind. She nodded. "I guess I did."

"You still feel that way?" He asked slowly.

Charlie looked down to her wrists. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought for a bit trying to organize her thoughts. She started out slow shaking her head.

"I can't seem to separate her emotions from my own. That kid was never mine. I understand that. I mean, I didn't even know him." She paused. "And yet, I have clear memories of giving birth to him, of holding him in my arms. I can hear his laughter. His cries. Feel his hugs. Hear his voice... " Her voice trailed off. It hurt to talk about it. The memories flooded her and with one quick wave she suddenly felt like she was drowning. She quickly pushed her chair back from the table and stood up in response. Dean stood up too, his concern growing.

"Her loss is my loss." Charlie's voice cracked.

"Charlie.." Dean began.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Charlie's voice sounded strained. "It's all I can think about. It's all I can feel. Every second of every moment.. I feel like I'm going crazy.. "

"Charlie.. " Dean repeated raising his hand up in a calming motion.

"They get to be together now and I'm.. just..what? Left behind? Hanging on by a thread...?" Charlie took a step back from Dean her face riddled with grief. Jody was dead on. Charlie was experiencing the kind of loss you would never wish on anyone. He took a step towards her and then another until he was inches from her. He lifted his hand to her face and gingerly brushed away a fallen strand of hair with his fingers.

"Charlie.. " Dean said in a determined sounding tone. She looked to him with great sadness in her eyes. "Like Jody said." He looked into her eyes. "Let go."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Grieve." He whispered to her.

Grieve.

She never realized she should or that she could for that matter. Grieve. What would happen if she did grieve for a little boy that had never been hers?

"That pain and loss is now yours too. It's ok to just let go and grieve Charlie. It's ok." He comforted her.

She stared back at him wondering if he was asking her to do the impossible.

"You are one of the strongest people I know." Dean said with confidence.

"I'm terrified." Charlie said.

"I'd be seriously worried if you weren't." Dean responded. He pulled her into an embrace and she leaned into him her heart aching deeply.

It was mind blowing how much it hurt to be without the little boy. It left her feeling unsteady and unsound. She felt Dean's arms tighten around her. She found it helped keep her tethered to the here and now and was suddenly very thankful she had people like Sam and Dean in her life. Especially Dean. He had become her confidant with so many things and in so many ways, that it was hard to imagine life without him. She hugged him tighter.


End file.
